The climax of the short story "Sonny's Blues" is when the brothers wittiness a scene at a revival meeting. The narrator witnesses it from an upstairs window while Sonny witnesses it from the street. The women in the incident address each other as "Sister."

A literary climax is the moment at which the end result of the conflict is predictable, events turn at that point and lead to the resolution. It may be a moment of great emotion or action but it may also be a moment of quiet epiphany and revelation, as is the case in "Sonny's Blues."

After the revival scene the falling action starts when the brothers confide in each other and the narrator tries for the first time to see Sonny's point of view. They go to the club together and Sonny plays, taking control of the music and making something worthwhile of himself out of it. The narrator, in the audience listening and watching, understands that Sonny has held onto and built up his personal identity through the blues, and he realizes there is a universal truth to the worthwhile nature of blues. This is the resolution.